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Art and Architecture North

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Art and Architecture North
Art and Architecture North

Geographic Coordinates: 46.726705, -117.012694

Location: S.W. corner University Avenue and Line Street 951 University Ave

Building Overview

Date: 1965-. Occupied 1966

Standing: Yes

Name History: Originally named Art and Architecture Building. "North" was added when the old gym was remodeled in 1976 and named Art and Architecture South

Architect: Hummell, Hummell, Jones & Shawver (Boise)

Architectural Style: International Style

Description: Red brick, 4 floors, front is glass.

Use History: Art and Architecture administrative offices; computer lab; studios, faculty offices

Cost: $475,000

Sources: PG1, VF

History

The Art & Architecture North Building was established to meet the needs of a growing student body within the Art & Architecture Department during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although the department was founded in 1926, it lacked a permanent home for over four decades, occupying various spaces across campus despite the university’s significant role in advancing the architectural profession in Idaho. The dedication of this facility on November 19, 1966, finally offered a consolidated location for classrooms, studios, labs, and faculty offices, as well as the department’s administrative headquarters under the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences. [^1]

Design

Art and Architecture North is an International Style building, notably featuring an impressive Bauhaus-inspired glass and metal curtain wall on its north elevation. The flat roof has an integrated shed-style clerestory designed to bring in natural light.1 It is one of the finest examples of International Style on campus, with its original unaltered curtain wall and design features intact.

Physical Description

The building is a 3.5-story, rectangular-form structure with a partially below-grade lower level and a loft studio. It features steel-reinforced concrete construction and a flat roof with a shed-style clerestory. The west, south, and east façades of the building are largely unadorned, with ivy growing on the east wall and extending onto the curtain wall. Entrances are located on the lower north and first-story east elevations, consisting of metal windowed doors. Window configurations include one- and two-sash units with transoms and mullions that coordinate with the curtain wall system. It is connected to Art and Architecture South via a catwalk, added in 1976.2

Adjacent to the main structure, directly to the east, is a one-story woodshop connected by a breezeway. This woodshop was completed around the same time as the main building and serves as a functional extension of the department’s facilities. 3

Notes

  1. Ibid. ↩

  2. Nathan J. Moody, National Register of Historic Places—Registration Form: The University of Idaho Historic District, 12–13. ↩

  3. Nathan J. Moody, National Register of Historic Places—Registration Form: The University of Idaho Historic District, 14-15. ↩

Images of Art and Architecture North

Art and Architecture Building, University of Idaho. [143-1]
Art and Architecture Building, University of Idaho. [143-1]
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Art and Architecture Building, University of Idaho. Construction. [143-2]
Art and Architecture Building, University of Idaho. Construction. [143-2]
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